Latest Video and Audio

Oram, South Africa and the curseWorld Cup Vignettes: A middle-order collapse saw them exit the World Cup, but some inappropriate on-field behaviour by the New Zealanders took its share of the spotlight
()

Oram, South Africa and the curseWorld Cup Vignettes: A middle-order collapse saw them exit the World Cup, but some inappropriate on-field behaviour by the New Zealanders took its share of the spotlight
()

Dhoni takes India homeWorld Cup Vignettes: The most memorable shot of MS Dhoni's career came on the biggest platform: a six to win the World Cup, India's second title
()

Yuvi steers India clearWorld Cup Vignettes: The man of the tournament, Yuvraj Singh, produced his most crucial innings against Australia in the quarter-final
()

Daniel Vettori and Kyle Millis will not be playing in New Zealand's final group match against Sri Lanka on Friday. It is an important match for New Zealand as a positive result will assure them a top two finish in Group A.

But New Zealand are not interested in taking a gamble and want Vettori and Mills to recover from the injuries completely and return fit for the knockout stages. "At this stage we are looking at having Kyle Mills and Daniel Vettori for the quarter-finals. Their injuries are coming along nicely but they are probably not ready for this match," Ross Taylor, New Zealand's stand-in captain, said.

Vettori hurt his knee while attempting a catch in the win against Pakistan last week while Mills strained his left quadricep in the match against Canada last Sunday. Both players were present the team's training at the Wankhede stadium, but other than doing a few stretches, they just milled around with team-mates.

As a precautionary step, New Zealand have called Dary Tuffey as a cover for Mills. "With Kyle Mills suffering from a quad strain we felt it was important to cover our bases," New Zealand selector Mark Greatbatch said.

"The medical team is working hard to get Kyle fit and we are hopeful he will still play a big part in the World Cup so bringing in Daryl is a precaution. Getting Daryl over to India early gives him the best chance of adjusting to the different time zone and conditions should he become part of the official squad." Tuffey is currently playing in the New Zealand's first-class competition, the Plunket Shield, representing Auckland against Northern Districts. He will join the team on Friday.

This will be the second match at the renovated Wankhede stadium, which will host the final on April 2. The New Zealand-Canada contest, a day match, saw nearly 600 runs scored on a pitch which had true bounce, but became flatter steadily. It is expected to behave the same on Friday even though the match will be played under lights. Taylor said a settled top order and a host of power hitters in the lower order makes New Zealand a formidable opponent against Sri Lanka, who would be playing their first game away from home.

"Our top four or five are fairly settled. The way Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum have batted have been outstanding in laying a platform. Jesse Ryder has had good form back home. He has not had probably the same opportunities here but he has been striking the ball very well out there. Another strength of ours is the lower batting order and the power hitting that we have," Taylor said.

Giving a hint about the selection, Taylor said the choice for a replacement for Mills would be between a specialist bowler or an allrounder. "Luke Woodcock comes into the 12. I will have to see as far as balance of the side goes whether we go in with an extra bowler or an extra allrounder." Hamish Bennett, who sat out the Canada match, could be in competition with Woodcock.

Yes Tuffy is a class bowler, and can ceratinly smash a few out of the park (but who can't in this NZ side) and should probalby replace Bennett. Bennett is a good bowler and would have learnt a lot from this competition, but it's now time for the experienced players to take control of these games and do the business. NZ needs to beat SL to have any real chance of lifting this trophy, we need to smash a top side who are in form! Lets go Black Caps!!!

Posted by
kd
on (March 17, 2011, 10:42 GMT)

Tuffey is horrible hes old and slow plus overweight. bennett is the better option .i dont think franklin is an option with the ball at all. nz need williamson to improve his bowling that would balance out the side without luca.

Posted by
sam
on (March 17, 2011, 10:31 GMT)

@InsideHedge and @Tim Fraser:
Having read this article when it first came out I can vouch for the fact that it originally said "coach". It has since then been corrected. Not a biggie really - so let's flush the dunny and move on :)

Posted by
Dummy4
on (March 17, 2011, 10:11 GMT)

God I'm sick of hearing about people saying "the other team" will beat NZ. That was all I heard coming out of you peoples mouth when we were going up against Pakistan. NZ have not only beaten, but annihilated every team they have gone up against EXCEPT the world champs (bearing in mind they weren't in a good head space after the chch earthquake back home). Yes Sri Lanka have a good chance of winning but so do NZ. NZ can beat ANY team on their day so never count them out especially with the form they are currently in. The only reason I think Sri Lanka might get home is because we are without our top seam and top spin bowlers...

Posted by
jogender
on (March 17, 2011, 7:26 GMT)

ryder and taylor can win any match............nd then they hv mclm bros........

Posted by
Dummy4
on (March 17, 2011, 6:40 GMT)

WHAT EVER THE CHANGES NZ DO SL WILL LOSE THIS MATCH TO GET THE 4TH SPOT (A4) WHICH THEY WILL HAVE A HOME QF AGAINST (A1) TEAM. THAT WILL GIVE A MASSIVE ADVANTAGE FOR THE SL TEAM PROVIDED SOUTH AFRICA (THE CHOKERS) WILL BE IN THE TOP SPOT IN GROUP B.

Posted by
Sumit
on (March 17, 2011, 5:21 GMT)

OK, I know that my following predictions are out of place for this article but still I thought I'll post them here.......atleast people are reading this article!

New Zealand beat Sri Lanka in their T20 World Cup encounter. I think NZ can do it again since this match is been played in a neutral venue. Of course if this match had been played in Sri Lanka, a spinning wicket would have been prepared and the SL team would have played 3 spinners like in the game against Australia which was washed out.
The team that wins the toss and bats first will probably win the match.

Posted by
Dummy4
on (March 17, 2011, 4:47 GMT)

@maverick027 Boult doesn't bowl 150+ he is about the same pace as Southee. We have Milne who can bowl 150+, Bracewell looks like he has abit of pace aswell and Wagner when he is available for us has alot of pace. I think Milne would have been a good player to play against the minows and outpace them. If New Zealand can keep them fit it looks like we will have a formidable pace attack in the near future

Posted by
Giles
on (March 17, 2011, 4:28 GMT)

Have to keep Franklin in ! He bats well and adds to the bowling options. Good luck to Kyle Mills, he's a great guy - go NZ !